Machine for knitting spliced fabrics and method of knitting the same



3 Sheets-Sheet l A. E. PAG E MACHINE FOR KNI TTING SPLICED FABRICS AND- METHOD OF K TING THE SAME Original Fi May. 22, 1925 May 5, 1931.

May 5, 1931'.

A. E. PAGE 1,803,865 MACHINE FOR KNITTING SPLICED FABRICS AND METHOD OF KNITTING THE SAME Original Filed May 22. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 5, 1931. A. E. PAG 1,803,865

MACHINE FOR KNITTING SPLIC FABRICS AND METHO ING D OF KNITT THE ME Original Filed May 22, 5 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ,JJW JJ 3 Q/ i 0 w EDD fgzvewaa 7' 5ei'il -fcye him/7655sz whwhm Patented May 5, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT E. PAGE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO SCOTT & WILLIAMS, .PORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS KACHIDTE FOR KNITTING SPLICED FABRICS AND METHOD OF KNITTING THE SAME Original application filed Kay 22, 1925, Serial No. 32,046. Divided and this application filed l'ebrua 20, 1930. Serial No. 429,940.

This invention relates to splicing or reinforcing stockin s and other hosiery, especially hosiery o the kind having contiguous ribbed and plain portions, for example having a ribbed fabric instep and a plain fabric sole, heel, and section above the heel. invention is particularly applicable to manufacture by circular of seamless tubular knitting, in which it is necessary or desirable to reinforce by splicing a section of the tubular product having lengthwise extending boundaries.

Invention in knitting machines has supplied machines for automatically knitting ribbed hosiery having plain fabric soles, heels and toes, for example the machine shown, described and claimed in the application of Robert W. Scott, Serial No. 559,506, filed May 9, 1922, (Patent No. 1,641,556 dated September 6, 1927) and machines of this type are in great and growing use. Stockings of the kind indicated are not necessarily spliced when made of woolen yarn, or thick heavy cotton yarns, but when the decorative and useful ribbed instep stockings are made of light thin yarns, and especially when made of silk, it is desirable to provide a reinforced fabric at the sole, and at the back of the ankle above the heel. aoThe narrowed and widened heels andtoes may be spliced as usual, by feeding double or multiple yarns during reciprocatory mo tions of the machine for knitting these parts. A successful device for splicing must be such as to cause a supplemental or splicing yarn to enter the hooks of the needles employed in knitting the section to'be spliced along with the main or body yarn at each course knit with reliable accuracy in respect to entering the splicing yarn at the same needle and causing it to leave the fabric at the same needle during the making of so many courses as are necessary to provide a sufficient length of the spliced area. The competentperformance of the entering and leaving operation is best secured by that type of yarn feeding yarn guide which can be relied upon to enter its yarn by rapid downward and outward motion and to with draw its yarn by upward and inward motion The in respect to that set of needles employed to knit the plain portions of the fabric.

If and when instruments of the instrument dial necessarily are cooperating with the knitting wave in the cylinder needles of the machine, either the instruments themselves or the yarn loops necessarily enga ed in them for the purpose of knitting ribfied fabric close the annular space between the margin of the dial and the interior surface of the space defined by the cylinder needles, and in this case it is difiicult to provide for permitting the float of withdrawn splicing yarn to extendacross the circle of active cylinder needles in the position of a chord or diameter, and the needle dial is in the way of a float extendin above the dial.

I have therefore devised a mode of and machine for knitting a spliced article of hosiery having laterally contiguous ribbed and plain portions, the plain portion or a part of the plain portion or any desired part of the ribbed portion, such as the knee of a stocking, being spliced, and the extent or run of the splicing yarn from exit margin to entrance margin of the spliced area in each course being disposed of by enga ement with the inwardly-drawn or back we es of the ribbed knitting, so that it shall not have to be extended across the space within the needles.

One object of this invention is to provide for making this structure, in such a way 4 that portion of the splicing yards extending from exit margin to entrance margin of the spliced area is engaged with the remainder of the knit tubes so as to permit the splicmg yard to be cut at or near the mar s, leaving that portion engaged with and ack of the unspliced fabric to be removed by a drawing operation, and preferably by a drawing operation carried out upon a numbar of the lightly-engaged splicing yarns at the same time. Another ob'ect of the invention is to provide yarn eeding devices adapted to dispose of the splicing yarn extending from exit margin to entrance margin of the spliced area in relation to the forming unspliced fabric in such a way as toocca' sionally include the splicing yarn in the spaces between the wales of the unspliced portion of the fabric, and to float the splicing yarn behind the face-drawn or plain or front wales of the fabric of the elsewhere unspliced portions of the articles which are laterally contiguous to the spliced portions.

The invention will now be described with reference to specific instances of the fabric, method, and apparatus for making the fabric and practising the method shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings, to which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a ribbed instep stocking containing splicing of the kind mentioned;

Fig. 2 is a face diagram in elevation of a portion of the fabric, showing the area 2,

Fig. 1; a

Fig. 3 is a diagram in plan illustrating the structure in section during manufacture on either of the lines 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail view in plan showing the splicing and main yarn feeding devices of a cylinder and dial rib knitting machine adapted to practise the operations of this disclosure;

Fig. 5 is a diametrical section in elevation, on the line 55 of Fig. 4, on an enlarged,

scale;

Fig. 6 is an exterior developed view of the cylinder needles, the dial margin and the splicing yarn feed guide at the knitting wave;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of yarn feeding iii- I161 splicing yarn positioning parts shown in Fig. 8 is a section similar to Fig. 5 on a smaller scale showing another and inoperative position of parts;

Fig. 9 is a diagram similar to Fig. 3 show- I ing a modification;

Fig. 10 is a diagram section at line 1(10 of Fig. 1 showing spliced fabric at the knee of the stocking;

Fig. 11 is a section in plan showing dial came of a preferred form for use with the needles and certain jacks of the kind illustrated.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3. the stocking 1 may have any pattern of ribbed leg, which may have any usual or desirable type of welt at the top, and may be provided with any usual or desirable fashioned heel and toe pockets 5, 5. The ribbed structure characteristic of the leg 1 extends without change from the line 6 over the instep portion of the stocking 7 and thence to the'top of the stocking, whereas the ribbed construction at the back of the leg 1 of the stocking extends from the line 8 above the heel up the leg. The sole portion 9 and the area 10 above the heel at the back of the ankle are plain fabric to the marginalribbed Wale of the instep portion 7, in a lateral sense, and any desired portion of the sections 9 asoasee and 19 of the fabric may be provided with splicing reinforcement, extending, forexample, from the toe pocket 5 to the line 12 above the heel, the sectional splicing having a lateral margin at the line 13; the ribbed portions of this stocking may have an desired pattern of rib, as shown best in igs. 2 and 3. The ribbed pattern for example may comprise the rib or back wales r 1*, etc. between each of which are three face wales a, a a etc. The plain fabric of the sole section 9 may be knit of the body yarn m continuous with the body yarn for the'instep section 7; this, for example, may be alight or heavy silk or cotton yarn. In the sole portion 9 the yarn w is accompanied by and interknit in each loop with a splicing supplemental yarn 1 At the line 13 this splicing yarn g is taken out of interknitting relation with the yarn m, and caused to float in front of the rib wales 1' r etc. and behind the face wales a a a, etc.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 5, this may be done by causing the splicing yarn to pass out of position to be taken by the hooks of that set of needles first to knit, e. g. the cylinder needles n, and by causing the splicing yarn to lie exteriorly to the loops r of the ribbed wales, and interiorly of the loops a of the face wales as these lie in the hooks respectively of the dial or rib needles d and of the needles n. As best shown in Fig. 3, the result of this is to cause that portion of the yarn 3 extending around the inside of the instep of the illustrative stocking to be caught in front of the. dial loops r, r etc. of the ribbed section .of the knitting.

These results are accomplished as best shown in Figs. 4 to 8 inclusive by providing a rib knitting machine, as shown. of the type illustrated in said application for patent to Robert W. Scott. Serial No. 559,506. (Patent No. 1,641,556) with the splicing yarn guide F adapted and arranged to be operated substantially in accordance with the disclosure of the patent to Robert W. Scott, No. 1,256,062, dated February 12, 1918, and including for this purpose a longitudinally and laterally movable thrust bar 460, adapted and arranged to co-operate with a segmental cam 295 on a rotating part of the machine to lift the splicing yarn guide F during the passage of the segment 7 of the illustrative stocking to an upper position of the yarn feeding end of the guide F illustrated in full lines in Fig. 6, and as shown in plan in Fig. 4;. Whenever the thrust bar 460 is longitudinally lifted. then the inward end of the splicing yarn guide F is carried upward and inward further. substantially to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8. When the thrust bar 460 is neither thrown outward nor lifted, the splicing yarn parts, their relative motion to each other,

guide F is in the operative position illustrated in Fig. 7.

In order to induce the splicing yarn 3/ taken out of knitting relation upon an elevation of splicing yarn guide F to the po- 20 carrying a voke 22 to take over and en.

gage with top of the splicing yarn guide F in its most upward positions, and having a stop screw 23 -to engage the upper surface of the latch ring 550 of the machine. The position of the lever 20 is such as to cause it when in its lowermost position, as induced by a tension spring 25. to position the lower end of an auxiliary splicing yarn positioning instrument 26 as illustrated in Figs. 5, 7 and 8. The positioning instrument 26, referring now to Fig. tand Fig. 6, may operate just above the depression wave in the cylinder needles )2. and, in the direction of rotation of the needles n at a point ahead of the place of projection of the dial needles (1 following the indrawing movement of the dial needles to knit.

The instrument 26 is provided at its under side with a notch 27 which, because of the above mentioned dispositions, is caused to receive the splicing yarn withdrawn by the moderate upward motion of the s licing yarn guide to the place illustrated in full lines in Fig. 6.

Because of the relative heights of the and the relationship of the partly elevated splicing yarn guide tothe needles d and other instruments carried by the dial D of the knitting machine, the intervention of the instrument 26 is desirable to hold the splicing yarn outwardly and downwardly,

see Fig. 4, to make sure of such a position yarn as will inevitably ta e it into the space in front of the loops -r, above the loops a, and inside of the needles a.

While I may rely "upon an instrument such as that shown at 26 to accomplish this, I prefer to insure the operation of the instrument 26 to this effect by providing in the needle dial jacks 30 having butts 31 and downwardly beveled ends 32, which may be placed and moved in dial grooves intervenmg between those occupied by the dial needles (1, as shown, and which will have the efi'ect, particularly as the jacks so in succession pass into contact with the tangential run 3 of the splicing yarn,- to ride down and depress the splicing yarn beneath the level of the loop drawing hookedelements d of the two-part dial needles d, of which the cast-off elements J are aboutto be projected beyond the idle position shown in Fig. '5.

Referring to Figs. 6 and 11, the cylinder needles are depressed for knitting to their lowest point at the radial plane k, k, and the dial needle parts d are withdrawn to their innermost position by dial stitch cam 10 at the radial plane 1), '0. Following the plane lr, 7c, the dial needle parts d? are projected by the cam groove at 16, Fig. 11. By causing the butts 31 of the jacks 30 to be actuated by this groove 16 the desired projectin motion of the jacks 30 preceding an following the most withdrawn position of the dial needle parts (i is eflected. If the dial needles are single needles, instead of two-part needles, the jacks 30 may be actuated by any suitable dial cam groove giving them an outward motion in the same relative 'position.

While it conducesto certain operation to the line 12 of Fig. 1, in order to cause cessation of splicing, the lever 20 is lifted by contact of the yoke 22 with the top edge of the splicing yarn guide F and the instrument 26 passes to the dotted line position shown in'Fi'g: 8. At this time the splicing yarn y floats over the top of the dial cap d and into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 in respect to the margin of the dial and its instruments, and when in this position the splicing yarn is refer-ably clamped by the clamp c and cut y the shears 16.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 7 and 10,-when it is desired to splice the stocking sectionally elsewhere, for example at the area 15, at the knee, Fi 1 and 10, the splicing yarn 3; may be ed to the appropriate segment of the needles, and elsewhere engaged between the rib wales, such as r and the face wales a, Fig. 10, and that part of the circumference merely engaged in the rib wales may be removed subsequently; by severing at w, w in the way explained above, for instance.

When the front part of the stockin is spliced, as at 15, the parts are operate to cause the yarn uide F to occupy the position shown in ig. 7 during pamage of the segment of needles to be s llced. This may be done by altering the ation of the cam 295 to the rotating part carrying it or operati the bar 460 or the splicing yarn guide y another difierently timed connection.

When a stocking has been knit and re moved mm the machine, the s licing yarn extending across the instep in oats 3 may be left in the stocking, unless the stocking is of such light and transparent structure as to make its removal desirable, being sufficiently slack where it is notintcrknitted to avoid limiting any necessary lateral stretch of the unspliccd segment. f the floated yarn is to be removed, a recommended procedure is to cut all of the yarns 3 at 'w by a suitable severing instrument inserted between the rib loops in wale 1" and the marginal spliced wale; to run any suitable dull pointed implement in the direction of the wales between the floats 3 and the face wales at the other side of the stocking, whereupon the cut ends will be withdrawn through their loose engagements behind the ribbed loops in wales r 1*, etc. until all of the runs of the yarn 3 behind the instep or other unspliced segment have been removed from engagement, and then to cut the freed splicing yarn floats at 1'0 in any usual way of trimming off splicing yarn floats.

If desired, the floated splicing yarns may be cut instead on the instep side of the first rib wale of the instep fabric beyond the margins of splicing on each side. Ur, as shown in Fig. 9, the splicing may be arranged to extend beyond the plain knit segment, such as the sole 9, into the adjacent one or more rib wales F, r etc. of the ribbed segment. In either case. thecut ends of the splicing yarn are favorably placed to avoid working out of the fabric to the face surface.

For the purposes of this invention. it, is not essential that the instruments of the dial D shall be knitting needles, since these instruments might be operated not to form knit wales by repeatedly seizing and dropping bights of the yarn w, or be formed and operated to transfer taken bights from and return them to the same or other cylinder needles. all as well known in the prior art; nor is it essential that the instruments 0p-' crating on the splicing yarn where it is not; interknit comprise more than appropriate instruments for the function of the jacks {30 to position the withdrawn splicing yarn 1 n relation to needles not required to take it for knitting. The needles n may be arranged in any operative order in any known kind of carrier. It is not essential that, the floats of splicing yarn behind the unspliced fabric be tied on the back face by the structural loopsof the fabric, since obviously an additional yarn or yarns forming a part of the fabric produced might be relied upon' for this purpose.

I do not herein claim the article of manufacture and the steps of knitting constitut ing the art of knitting spliced hosiery having laterally contiguous areas of spliced and unz-pliced fabric described and claimed in my application Serial No. 32,046, filed May a mosses 22, 1925,Patent No. 1,769,856,011 which this application is a division.

I claim:

1. Method of knitting spliced sections on a knitting machine having two sets of needles for ribbed knitting, comprising feeding to one set of said needles a main yarn and operating the needles to knit a plain fabric segment and a contiguous ribbed fabric segment of said yarn, and feeding a splicing yarn to accompany the main yarn during a part of the knitting of the plain fabric segment, and into the space ctween the race wale and back wale. loops of the ribbed fabric.

2. Method of knitting spliced sections on a circular knitting machine having two sets of needles for ribbed knitting, comprising feeding to one set of said needles a main yarn and operating the needles to knit a plain fabric segment and a contiguous ribbed fabric segment of said yarn, and feeding a splicing yarn to accompany the main yarn during a part of the knitting of the plain fabric segment, and into the space between the face wale and back wale loops of the ribbed fabric.

3. Method of knittingspliced sections on a knitting machine having two sets of needles for ribbed knitting, comprising feeding to one set of said needles a main yarn and operating the needles to knit a plain fabric segment and a contiguous ribbed fabric segment of said yarn, and feeding a splicing yarn to accompany the main yarn during a part of the knitting of the plain fabric segment, and into the space between the face wale loops on one set of needles and back wale loops on another setof needles.

4. Method of knitting spliced sections on a knitting machine having two sets of needles comprising feeding a main yarn to and operating the needles of one set to knit the main yarn, comprising feeding a splicing yarn to a section of said needles to be knit into the loops made thereon, feeding the main yarn also to cooperating needles of the other set operating said needles to knit a contiguous section of the fabric, and engaging thesplicing yarn without knitting behind parts of the forming fabric of said contiguous section.-

Knitting machine having therein a series o knitting needles, means for operating on said needles to knit a main yarn, and yarn feeding means for said main yarn, in combination with means for feeding to and withdrawing from said needles a splicing yarn, and means operating on the withdrawn splicing yarn for engaging it removably with fabric formed on sections of said series of needles to which said splicing yarn is not fed to knit.

6. Knitting machine having therein a semosses ries of knittingflneedles, means for operating on said nee es to knit a main yarn, and yarn feeding means for said main yarn, in combination with a yarn finger operated at passage of predetermined needles in each of successive courses for feeding to and withdrawing a splicing yarn from a segment of the fabric and positioning means operating on the withdrawn splicing yarn for engaging it removably with fabric formed on sections of said series of needles to which said splicing yarn is not fed to knit.

7. In a knitting machine having a series of needles, :1. series of cooperative instruments for holding loops of a yarn on the needles, means for operating the needles to knit, and yarn feeding means for a main yarn, means for feeding and withdrawing a splicing yarn comprising in combination means for causing the splicing yarn when withdrawn to lie behind the needles of said circular series and uponloops held by the said cooperating instruments.

8. In a knitting machine having a circular series of needles, an instrument dial within the needles, means for operating the needles to knit, and yarn feeding means for a main yarn, means for feeding and withdrawing a splicing yarn comprising in combination means for causing the splicing yarn when withdrawnto lie behind the needles of said circular series and upon loops held by the instruments in said dial.

9. In a knitt' machine having a circular series of n es, an instrument dial within the needles, a series of needles in said dial, means for operating the needles to knit, and yarn feeding means for a main yarn, means for feeding and withdrawing a splicing yarn compr' in combination means for causi the sp 'cing yarn when withdrawn to he behind the needles of said circular series, upon loops held by the dial needles, and out of position to be knit by the dial needles.

10. In a knitti machine having a cirular series of nee es, an instrument dial within the needles, a series of needles in said dial, means for 0 rating the needles to knit, and yarn fee means for a main yarn in combination with a movable splicing yarn guide and means for causing said yarn guide to be ositioned to feed its yarn to accompany the main yarn during passage of a segment of the said circular series of needles, and to be positioned during the passage of another segment of said needles to dehver its yarn above and behind the said needles, and means for positioni thew1thdrawn yarn to lie on the loops 0 the mam yarn drawn by the dial needles, and out of operative contact with the dial needles.

11-. In a knitting machine having a c rcular series of needles, an instrument dial within the needles, a series of needles m said dial, means for operating the needles to hit, and yarn feeding means for a main yarn in combination with a movable s licing yarn guide and means for causing sai yarn guide to be positioned vto feed its yarn to accompany the main yarn during passage of a segment of the said circular series of needles, and to be positioned during the passage of another segment of said needles to deliver its yarn above and behind the said needles, and a positioning instrument for guiding a tangential run of the withdrawn splicing yarn into the space between the backs of face wale loops and the fronts of dial wale loops of the fabric.-

12. In a knitting machine having a circular series of needles, an instrument dial within the needles, a series of needles in said dial, means for operating the needles to knit, and yarn feeding means for a main yarn, a movable yarn guide for a splicing yarn, means to position said splicing yarn during passage of a segment of said needles to feed splicing yarn to the needles, means for moving the splicing yarn guide to with draw the splicing yarn, and an instrument for holding a run of the withdrawn splicmg yarn downwardly and outwardly with respect to the dial.

13. In a knitting machine having a circular series of needles, an instrument dial within the needles, a series of needles in said dial, means for operating theneedles to hit, and yarn feeding means for a main yarn, a movable yarn guide for a splicing yarn, means to position said splicing yarn durmg passage of a segment of said needles to feed splicing yarn to the needles, means for moving the splicing yarn guide to withdraw the splicing yarn, a splicing yarn positioning instrument movably mounted for cooperation with the splicing'yarn when withdrawn, means for mo the splicing yarn guide upwardly to an i e position for cessation of splicing, and a connection for moving the positiomng instrument to an idle position when the splicing yarn guidev is moved to its idle position.

14. Knitting machine having an instrument dial, a needle carrier for a circle of knitting needles, means for feeding a main yarn to said needles in position to be taken and held by instruments in said dial, in combination. with means for feeding another yarn tosome of said needles, and means for positioning said other yarn in the space under the dial instruments and within the needles throughout a redetermined segment of said circle of n es.

- 15. Knitting machine having an instru ment dial, a needle carrier for a circle of knitting needles, means for feeding a main yarn to said needles in position to be taken and held by instruments in said dial, in

combination with means for feeding another loft yarn to some of said needles, and means for guiding said other yarn to enter the space under the dial instruments, and jacks in the dial for riding over and holding said other yarn out of contact with the said dial instruments.

16. In a knitting machine havin two instrument carriers, in combination with instruments therein adapted to cooperate in seizing and drawing loops from the same yarn, means for feeding a yarn to be seseized and drawn, means for feeding another yarn to a section of the instruments of one of said carriers, and means the other carrier adapted to be interposed between said other yarn and the instruments of said other carrier for the purpose of preventing their engagement with said other yarn.

17. In a knitting machine having two instrument carriers, in combination with instruments therein adapted to cooperate in seizing and drawing loops from the same yarn means for feeding a yarn to he so seized and drawn, means for feeding another yarn to a section of the instruments of one of said carriers, and independently movable cam-operated jacks in the other carrier adapted to act upon said other yarn for the purpose of preventing the instruments of said other carrier from engag ment with said other yarn.

Signed by me at Jamaica, New York this 18th dayof February, 1930.

ALBERT E. PAGE. 

